


5 Times Steve watched and 1 Time He Didn't

by SonglordsBug



Series: Brooklyn Darcy [6]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Multi, Steve watches them dance, They grow up together, and fall in love
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-23
Updated: 2020-03-30
Packaged: 2021-02-28 21:34:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 1,990
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23284072
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SonglordsBug/pseuds/SonglordsBug
Summary: Steve, Bucky, and the girl who would one day be called Darcy grew up together. Bucky and Darcy-Belle spent a lot of time dancing. Steve spent a lot of time watching them.
Relationships: James "Bucky" Barnes & Darcy Lewis & Steve Rogers, James "Bucky" Barnes/Darcy Lewis/Steve Rogers
Series: Brooklyn Darcy [6]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1213275
Comments: 6
Kudos: 61





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> crossposting from stumblr

Steve, Bucky, and Belle burst into the courtyard where the other children were playing. Bucky and Belle immediately slowed and gave Steve worried looks. His chest was tight and he was audibly wheezing but he lifted his head stubbornly and tried to show them he was fine.

He would have said something to that effect, but they were already starting to scowl at him and he didn’t want to listen to their lectures if talking made him start coughing. His friends relaxed slowly as his wheezing eased.

They started to look around at what the others were doing. Belle’s eyes landed on a group that was skipping and swirling to the tune of a nursery song and her face lit up.

“Oh! Lookit! There’s dancing!” Belle said.

Bucky’s head swung around and his eyes brightened as he tried to bite back an eager smile.

“C'mon! Let’s go dance!” Belle implored.

“Well, I s'pose we could…” Bucky drawled, completely failing to mask his excitement.

They both turned hopefully to Steve. He looked between their excited, eager faces, and the actively moving group of children. Then he considered how his chest still felt tight and smiled weakly.

“Think I’ll sit this one out.” Steve answered. As Bucky’s and Belle’s faces started to fall he hastened to add “I’ll watch you two instead. Maybe draw a little.”

They looked at him consideringly.

“You sure, pal?” Bucky asked.

“Yeah, go on.” Steve said.

“We’ll be back soon, Stevie!” Belle said with a cheerful grin, then grabbed Bucky’s sleeve and dragged him towards the dancing.

Steve wistfully watched them go. Within seconds they had integrated into the dance, hooking elbows and skipping around the circle. As Steve watched them he reminded himself that even if he could join in without having a coughing fit or worse, he’d no doubt be too clumsy and do something like step on someone’s feet.


	2. Chapter 2

The sound of music and laughter floated out of the Rogers’ apartment’s open window, letting the whole neighborhood know that the three youngsters were out of school for the day.

In the apartment, Steve was perched on a corner of the table, where his Ma would scold him if she caught him. He had his sketchbook in his lap and a pencil in his hand, but he was spending less time drawing and more time watching his friends.

They were standing in the open space in front of the couch. Bucky had his arm around Belle’s waist and her hand in the other. They were both looking down at their feet and laughing.

“Come on now, we can do this. Head up, doll, it’s no good if you’re looking down.” Bucky said with a grin.

Belle brought her head up with a glare that soon faded into a smile.

They took a moment to find the rhythm of the current song and then stepped into motion. They swung around the room a few times and then started the new step they were practicing and fell apart.

“No! We know this, we’ve both learned it! Why can’t we get it right?” Belle complained.

Bucky frowned.

“I dunno, we’re missing something. Can you see it, Steve?” He asked, looking over at the other boy.

Steve tapped his eraser on his sketchpad and worried his lip between his teeth thoughtfully.

“Well, a fella’s supposed to let the dame know what steps they’re gonna do, right?” Steve asked. Bucky nodded impatiently. “I don’t think Belle knows when you’re gonna start. So she keeps ending up starting after you and then you’re not in step with each other.”

Belle started nodding.

“I hadn’t realized it but, Stevie’s right. I don’t know we’re starting till you take the step, and then I’m stuck playing catch up.” She said.

Bucky frowned, considering.

“All right. How about if I do this before I take the step?” He asked, shifting his hand slightly on her waist.

“I think that’ll work.” Belle said with a nod. “Let’s try.”

They took their positions again and started dancing. This time they swung neatly into the new steps. As they finished Bucky let out a whoop and started them again.

Steve abandoned all pretense of drawing and watched raptly as Bucky and Belle spun about the apartment gleefully.


	3. Chapter 3

The dance hall is brightly lit and crowded, loud with music and laughter. It’s one of the rare evenings when they’re out but Bucky hasn’t tried to set up dates for everyone. They’re at the point in the cycle of their relationship where they aren’t pretending with each other about what they feel; to the rest of the world they still have to keep appearances.

Bucky and Belle had wanted to go out dancing and had objected to Steve staying behind, so here he was. His eyes easily spotted the two brunettes- Belle’s skirt flaring as Bucky spun her around. Steve held that image in his head for later when he had a sketchpad. Then he smiled a little and looked back down at the drink he was nursing.

He’d had a lot of practice making the one drink he could afford last him hours. Even when Bucky had gotten them dates, no one wanted to dance with the clumsy asthmatic. His chances of dancing just decreased when they dragged him here alone, no one was gonna say yes if he bothered asking.

At least Bucky and Belle were enjoying themselves. They’d go home late tonight, and the two would be flushed and out of breath and so very happy. Steve didn’t mind so much sitting here keeping up appearances when he knew they were happy, even if all he really wanted was to be at home and comfortable.

His eyes flicked up again, this time catching Bucky and Belle grinning at each other. He looked away again, turning back to his thoughts and missed the way the two of them kept glancing over at him. He never saw the longing look on Belle’s face, or the pout on Bucky’s. He certainly never noticed the sad, resigned looks they exchanged every time they felt his eyes leave them.


	4. Chapter 4

The dancehall is crowded, full of soldiers looking to forget the war for a night and women happy to help. They’re dancing in a tucked away corner of the dance floor. He’s less put together than typical and she’s dressed in quiet colors. They’re not moving as energetically as usual, but they are intent and keeping to the rhythm.

Steve can’t keep his eyes off them.

He doesn’t notice he has company until Agent Carter speaks.

“They dance together well.”

He doesn’t quite jump as his eyes flick to her.

“They- yeah, they’ve been dancing together their whole lives.” He says as his eyes are drawn back to them.

“And you’ve been watching them that long.” The way she says it, it isn’t a question.

He looks at her uncertainly. There is respect and understanding in her eyes, but no judgement.

“Yeah I have.” He admits softly.

She hums softly and turns to look at the two dancers.

“You’re lucky you know. Most people have enough trouble finding one partner, let alone two.”

Steve breathes in sharply and lets it out slowly, following her gaze back to the dance floor.

“I s'pose I am.”

His eyes trace the faces he knows better than his own. Bucky’s is soft, more relaxed than he’s been since Steve found him in the factory. His eyes are intent as he swings Belle around. Belle is smiling the way dancing always makes her smile, though it’s muted, this war straining everyone.

Peggy shifts the subject slightly and soon has him sheepishly admitting to two left feet. He’s almost surprised when Belle and Bucky come over at the end of a song.

“What are you two up to?” Belle asks with a friendly smile.

“We were discussing how you gained your skill on the dance floor.” Peggy says.

“Did Stevie tell you we wouldn’t have learned have the moves we did if he hadn’t talked us through them?” Belle asks.

Peggy raises her eyebrows.

“He did not.” She says, giving Steve a surprised look.

“What do you say, gonna ask him for a dance?” Bucky asks with a smirk, eyes guarded.

“No actually, I’d just finished complimenting him on his choice of dance partners.” Peggy said.

Bucky’s eyes opened wide as Belle bumped him with her hip, then they cut over to Steve and softened and he smiled.

“Well, if he’s not gonna, then I guess I will. Agent Carter would you like to dance?” He asked, holding out a hand.

“I think I would, Sergeant.” Peggy said and they swept out to the dance floor.

Steve gaped as Belle collapsed in giggles.

“Oh good, it was going to get awkward if he didn’t get his head on straight.” She said.


	5. Chapter 5

Steve uneasily kept his eyes on the couple in the middle of the dance floor. They were a striking pair- he in his black formal wear and she in vivid red silk.

What really caught Steve’s eye was the way they were wrapped up in each other, the comfort and ease with which they spun around the floor together. He knew it was impossible, but it almost seemed as though they knew each other, hadn’t just met that night. Each flirt of her lashes, each smirk of his lips, every teasing comment they exchanged, it all suggested they had been dancing and more together for a long time.

Every time he blinked he saw a different couple superimposed on them- a little younger, a lot less worn, carefree and laughing and beautiful and so very out of reach. The line of his shoulders, the curve of her hips, the soft look in his blue eyes, the flush on her cheeks- he could almost believe that if he were to touch they would feel exactly how his hands remembered.

Steve swallowed against the lump in his throat and shook his head to dislodge his thoughts. Darcy wasn’t safe, had no idea of the danger she was in, had no idea that her charming dance partner was a cold-blooded assassin, and he couldn’t do anything to help if he kept getting caught in the past.

Bucky and Belle were gone, to a train and to old age, and he was alone and stranded in this future and no amount of wishing or imagining was going to bring them back. He had to focus on the here and now before the Winter Soldier killed Darcy after dancing with her all night.


	6. Chapter 6

It was the end of another long day at Avengers Tower and the residents of the Cap floor were having a night in. The dregs of old-fashioned stew and the crumbs of homemade bread had been left on the table along with empty micro-brew bottles. A slowish swing song was playing through Jarvis’ speakers and soft laughter and gentle teasing filled the apartment.

Belle had one hand on Steve’s shoulder and the other wrapped in his hand. She was smiling up at him and every time he started to stumble to a halt she tugged him into motion again.

“C'mon Stevie, it’s not dancing if we’re not moving.” She said teasingly.

“’M more worried about steppin’ on your feet.” Steve said.

“You’re not gonna step on her.” Bucky said, rolling his eyes.

He was tucked up behind Steve, his chin tucked over the shoulder that didn’t have Belle’s hand on it, his hands on Steve’s waist. Whenever Steve started to hesitate, Bucky casually kicked the foot that was supposed to move.

“You don’t know that!” Steve objected.

“Even if you do, I’ll survive.” Belle said, laughter in her eyes. “Now, let’s dance!”

“You heard our girl, punk, put your feet in gear!” Bucky said with a chuckle.

“Yeah, yeah…” Steve replied.

Slowly but surely his steps gained confidence and their speed started to approach the beat of the song.


End file.
